dominiafandomcom-20200213-history
Beginners guide to Dominia
Introduction Welcome to the DominiaMUD Beginner's Guide. This guide is meant to help out new players who may be struggling. I wrote this to address the lack of a "newbie school" or newbie help file on the mud. Hopefully, it will give the new players some direction and allow them to feel comfortable playing here. This guide is most effective for players under level 10. If you've never played on a MUD before... ...then the very first thing you should do when you arrive in the world is type "help". This will give you a list of commonly-used commands. You can type "help " to get help on a particular command. However, since it can be quite tedious to look up help on a hundred different commands, I will go through the important ones, and let you look at the others at your leisure. Over time, you will become familiar with all of them. If you're ever unsure of what a command does, just type "help ". Heck, even if you're sure of what it does, type it anyway. You might learn something new. But before you even _get_ into the world, you have to pick what kind of character you want. Thus... Picking a race and class There are eight different races and twelve different classes to choose from, each unique in their own way. Here's a very brief description of each: Races Human You know what these are, right? Good. A human is your basic race without any special abilities. However, humans do have one important attribute: they require one less credit to multiclass than the other races. What does that mean? Multiclassing is a way in which your character can gain abilities and spells of other classes, other than his primary class. For example, you could be a barbarian but also have some spells that only a priest normally has. To multiclass requires several credits, which you get by gaining a certain number of experience points. Therefore, if you are human, you will require less experience points to multiclass. Nice, eh? Elf A great talent of elves is infravision. It allows you to see in a dark area as if it was lit. Some areas are normally lit, but become dark at nighttime. You would require a light source to see, but if you're an elf, there's no need. Elves also possess two skills - tame and forage. Tame allows you to tame animals and cause them to obey your commands, and forage allows you to find food in rooms considered as forests. The forest zone is a good place for this skill and you will be able to find all sorts of edible goodies. Dwarf Dwarves have the ability to repair pieces of equipment if they get damaged. Sometimes in the course of battle, your stuff might get damaged from a particularly hard blow or just general wear and tear. Repairing allows you to eliminate any damage the item has taken. Dwarves also have infravision, just like elves do. Ghoul Ghouls don't require food or water. They like corpses better. That's right, when you kill an enemy, you can then eat them. Even better, you can gain special abilites for a short period of time if you eat a monster that was powerful enough. They can also "sense life", which allows you to see invisible players or monsters. Minotaur Minotaurs have the ability to gore their opponent in battle. This is basically an extra attack and allows you to inflict more damage in a round of combat. Thus, it would be wise to pick a class that focuses on weapons fighting instead of spells if you're going to be a minotaur. A drawback to this race is that they are of "huge" size, which means they can only use equipment that is meant for them, which sometimes is not as powerful as "normal" equipment. Faerie Faeries have the natural ability to fly. This allows them to get to some places where other races would need special equipment. In addition, you are more difficult to hit because of your small size. Faeries also have the spell 'detect magic', which allows them to tell whether or not a particular object has magical properties. In addition, faeries gain back mana at double the normal rate (more on this subject later on). They can only use equipment that is of "small" size, again, which might not be as powerful as "normal" equipment. Goblin Goblins have the ability to steal from monsters. This is useful if you want to avoid a fight, but get a piece of equipment that a monster possesses. They also can breed with other goblins (of the opposite sex, of course). The kids can fight alongside Dad (or Mom). Goblins also have a racial infravision which helps them see in the dark. Merfolk Merfolk can walk on water, and breathe underwater. In addition, they have the ability to fish, meaning they'll always have a food supply from the water. Classes Barbarian An extremely powerful fighting class. They are able to use most weapons and armor, and have great fighting ability, so gaining experience and going up levels is easier than with most other classes. They also learn a wide variety of skills to aid them in combat. However, they do not learn any spells, which means no healing or damage-dealing spells in combat. Paladin A very strong fighter with some healing ability. Paladins do almost as much damage as a Barbarian, and get various healing and protective spells as they develop. Paladins must maintain a proper alignment or suffer penalties; also, they lack in combat healing for a number of the lower levels. Priest The ultimate healers and protectors, the awesome spells they gain compensate quite well for their lack of fighting prowess. Priests have the ability to remove many ill affects on themselves, others, and items. Assassin Assassins rely on stealth and quickness. They won't do very well in straight-on head-to-head fighting, so they use tactics like sneaking up on the enemy, hiding, and stabbing them in the back. Their backstab skill grows more and more powerful as assassins develop, making them among the most deadly classes at the higher levels. Chaos Mage This class has some of the most powerful damage-dealing spells available. Sometimes they can do more damage than the best fighters. However, they don't have great fighting skill or lots of hit points, so caution is needed when choosing what to fight. Shaper This class relies on evasive and protective spells. They are not great fighters, but they have the fun ability of summoning weapons to hover around them and fight alongside them. Some shapers have also been known to recruit other monsters as aids in their journey. Necromancer Necromancers specialize in spells of death and destruction. In addition, they can summon the dead to fight alongside them, which is very useful as they do not have very good hand-to-hand combat skills. Trickster These guys are basically thieves and con men, relying on deception and theft to get ahead in the world. They have quite a few spells that help them achieve these ends. Druid Protectors of nature, they have the ability to communicate with plants and animals, and can use the life energy present in nature to help their cause. Hunter Able to move invisibly through their surroundings and track their desired prey unnoticed. In addition, they are skillful at shooting weapons, allowing them to remain out of harm's way while they attack an enemy. Saboteur A mischievous class that uses bombs and booby traps to defeat foes. Their creations can quickly cause havoc and confusion. Artificer They have the ability to make artifact creatures to help them fight. While not the most intimidating sight in Dominia, higher level artificers are renowned for their powerful mechanical allies. When you choose a class, you'll get to see the adjustments in attributes that each class causes. For example, a Barbarian will have more strength but less wisdom and intelligence than the average. There is no right or wrong class, although some classes are more challenging than others. Starting Out So now you've chosen your race and class and you're ready to head out into the big bad world to meet your destiny. Well, you can't do anything if you don't know the commands! Here's a list of the ones you'll use most often: north, south, east, west, up, down These are directional commands, obviously. They move you in the desired direction, provided there is an exit in that direction in the room you're currently in. You only move from room to room, not around in one room. You can shorten these commands (in fact, almost all commands), to the first one or two letters. kill Here's a fun one. This lets you kill any bloodthirsty, snarling, ugly monster who thinks of deterring you in your grand adventure. However, it's not wise to kill a monster who's a lot more powerful than you are. You should use the "con" command to size up your enemy first. Also, don't try and kill players without their permission. This will get you in very hot water. mark The mark command is a way to ensure you get the killing rights to a mob. While you cannot mark mobs high above your own level (when you start out, finding a mob you can mark is more challenging than leveling), it prevents other players from engaging the mob in combat with the simple 'kill' command. wimpy Oh yes, if you happen to be getting the crap pounded out of you during a fight, it would probably be best if you run away instead of standing there to die. Setting your wimpy level causes you to run away when your hit points drops below a certain number, which you specify. You can also run away at any time by typing "flee". wield, wear, remove This allows you to put on and take off equipment. Wield is for weapons and wear is for armor. Remove is for both. You'll want to always be wielding a weapon, and when you find a new shiny sword or a better piece of armor, you'll want to remove the one you're currently using. look, examine This lets you take in your surroundings. You can examine a particular object, person, or enemy within a room, you can look around a room to get a description of it, and you can also look in a direction to see other rooms and who's in them. eat, drink, sleep, wake, sit, rest, stand Various commands that let you perform everyday things. You need food and water, and if you get hurt, resting or sleeping will speed the healing time. buy, sell, value, list Allows you to perform transactions with shop owners. The value of an object is how much the shop owner will give you if you sell the item. Typing list allows you to see everything the owner has for sale. score, inventory, equipment, practice Score lets you see all your attributes. Inventory shows you what you're currently carrying around. Equipment shows you what you're wearing and wielding. Practice displays the skills and spells you currently know of. If you're at your guild, you can practice the skills and spells that you know of to become better at them. say, tell, newbie, gossip, auction, shout, grats Various forms of communication. Say makes you speak a message to everyone currently in the room with you. Tell lets you say something to one person only. Newbie, gossip, auction, shout and grats are the various "channels" on the mud, each with their specific purpose. Remember that the channels are broadcast to the entire mud, so be respectful of others. pray This is used for emergencies only. It is a special channel that allows you to 'leave a message' with the gods. Again, this is for emergencies. Any abuse or spamming on the channel will result in punishment. news, info, POLICY These let you see the rules and goings-on in the world. You have to make sure that you don't break any rules, or else you will be punished. Ignorance is not an excuse. The news might not make much sense at first, but it will after some time. and of course, HELP anytime you don't understand a command, skill, spell, etc., try typing help with the word you don't understand. Most likely there is a help file which will explain in great detail about the word. Please do this before asking a question to the MUD - your question will often be answered. Playing So now you know how to get around, how to manipulate your equipment, and how to talk to other people. Great. Now it's time to get down to business. Here are the questions you'll probably ask yourself or someone else at one time or another: How do I find my way around this city? You have a map with you at the start of the game. Type "look map" and you can see a drawing of the City of Brass. It's basically made up of a center square with five streets branching off of it. Check your map frequently so you don't lose track of where you are. What are the important places in the city? Well, there's tons of shops and guilds. Shops sell a wide variety of things, ranging from weapons and armor to food and supplies to potions and scrolls. You'll usually be able to tell what's in a shop by its name. Guilds are places where people of your class go to practice their skills and spells. Normally, you may only enter the guild of your class. In the center of the city is a drinking fountain where you can always get a water supply. This place is often referred to as "COT" meaning "center of town". There's tons of food shops available, but which one should I buy from? IMO, the most cost-efficient source of food is from the Bakery on White Way. Buying loaves of bread costs only 4 coins each and fills you up for a while. If you're looking for food that lasts all day long, though, head to the Grocer on Green Grove and pick up some rations for 15 coins each. Can I get something to hold water in? If you don't already have a skin when you start the game, you can pick one up at the Water Shop on Blue Boulevard. For clerics, mages, and thieves, who are generally low on strength, the best buy is the water skin. Fighters, with more weight to spare, should buy the barrel if they want to (water weighs a ton!). Did you know? You can use the pour and fill commands to transfer liquids to and from your water container! Use the 'help pour' and 'help fill' commands to learn how! What should I fight to gain experience? In the city, the easiest enemies are rats, beggars, and lepers. You shouldn't have any problems with them. When you've gone up a few levels, you might try the oozes, goblins, and dream fighters. But be careful - you don't want to start a fight with a bodyguard or soldier standing around watching you. Well, unless you want to kill them too. What is all this about practicing skills and guilds? Generally, you gain levels to gain skills and spells. To make skills and spells work, you need to practice them. Each level, you will gain a certain amount of practices based on class and some stats. You will need these practice sessions to work on improving your ability in skills/spells. The first step is to find and enter your guild; you know you are in the right place when you see your guild master. Now that you are in the right place, typepractice. By doing this, you gain a list of your current skills and how good you are at using them. Type 'practice (skill or spell name here)' a few times until it says you have practiced it as much as possible. Yay, now you have a new skill to play with! To see how many practice sessions you have left, leave your guild and type practice (each time you practice a skill, you lose one practice session). I need some money - where do I get some? Sometimes when you kill a monster and loot their corpse, they will have a few coins on them. A better source of cash is to sell back excess weapons and armor to the appropriate shops. If you see a piece of equipment lying around that you can't use, it might be worth picking up anyway just to sell back. In the city, bronze breast plates get you 15 coins each. How can I find out stuff like my armor class (AC), damroll, etc? Once you reach level 5, "score" will reveal more information such as the above. When you get to level 10, it reveals even more. How can I tell the statistics of a piece of equipment? You'd have to buy an identify scroll from the Magic Emporium on Blue Boulevard, and then cast it on the particular equipment in question. How can I tell a monster's statistics? Identify scrolls work here too. I don't have the money to buy lots of identify scrolls - what is the best equipment for newbies? The best weapon for you at this early stage would be a hammer. You can find one in the shop, sometimes in the donation tent, and sometimes lying around in the mountain. The armor you'll find won't be very powerful, but try to cover up all the body parts that you can. A bronze breast plate would be the best body armor at this point. (It might be worth your while to ask a higher-level player to pick you up a hammer; you cannot kill the mob that holds it for a while). If you are a faerie, your best bet is the small thigh bone. A minotaur is stuck with the huge club for awhile. So where are all the other zones? At the end of each street in the city, you'll come to a gate. These represent the boundaries of the city and the beginning of another zone. To the north (white way) is the plains, a very nice place to pick up xp and cash. To the northeast is the harbour, also a nice newbie zone. To the northwest is the forest. To the southeast is the swamp. To the southwest is the mountain. Explore and have fun, but use the consider command. I just got hurt real bad by a monster! How do I heal myself? If you have some healing spells, use those. If you don't, the best way to regain hit points is to sleep. Your hit points will be back to full after only a few minutes (in addition, so will your mana and movement points). And you don't need to worry about being attacked while you're asleep...monsters in the city only attack if you attack them first. Note that outside of the city, some monsters do like to attack you while you are asleep. I tried to buy something, but the shop owner gave me the wrong kind of equipment. What do I do? Next time you try to buy something, buy it by its number. For example, if the thing you want is #3 on the list, type "buy #3". This will make sure that you get exactly what you want. Is there a way to tell what spells/skills I'm going to learn in the future? Yes, go to this website: http://www.dominiamud.org/ Can I see who else is playing on the MUD with me? Yep, just type "who". A list of the current players will be shown to you, along with their level, race, class, and title. Wow! Some guys are around level 110! Who are they? Oh yeah, those are the gods of the mud. They are the people who wrote the source code, designed the zones and monsters, etc. Please be respectful of them. They are strict, but fair. Hey, it says I'm too low level to wear an item! Why is life unfair? Items are restricted to certain levels because they are more powerful than the equipment you can currently use. You'll just have to gain those missing levels to wear that shiny new armor. Consider it an additional incentive to succeed. Can I kill another player? Not without their permission, no. Both of you have to agree to fight. If you try to attack someone without their permission, you will receive a "KILLER" flag and will not inflict any damage on anyone, even monsters. And the rest of us will come hunt you down like a dog. The only way to remove a "KILLER" flag is to die. Sorry. Okay, I fought someone with their permission, and won! Can I loot their corpse? No you may not. Even if you do win the battle, you can't take someone else's stuff. There is source code that prevents you from doing this if you try, and your attempt will be noticed by the gods. The only reason to fight someone else is if they tick you off enough or for bragging rights. Can I steal from another player? Boy, you're sure a criminal! No, that's also illegal. But you can steal from monsters. I want to multiclass, but I keep getting auto-leveled each time I get a credit. How do I do it? You have to be at least Level 11 before you can multiclass. It's at this level that you stop getting auto-leveled. See the following website for the credit costs of multiclassing: http://www.dominia.melb.net/multiclass.shtml I have a question, and I can't find the answer in the help files. Can I ask it out loud? Of course! Many of us veteran players are quite willing to help out someone new. We understand that not every question is addressed in a help file. You should be aware that a majority of them are, so don't be angry if someone directs you to a help file you haven't tried yet. Can I have more than one character? You can have as many characters as you want. But the rule is, only ONE may be logged in at any time. Be sure to read "policy". What are these quests I hear about? Where can I get information on them? Quests are there so that players have something to do other than killing monsters. They are difficult, but the rewards for doing them are great. You aren't allowed to ask for information from players, nor are you allowed to give any information to other players. The way you learn about a quest is to listen carefully to monsters. Sometimes they have important info. As a general rule, there is usually one quest per zone. Can I see a list of zones that are on the mud? Just type "areas" to see them all. Oh no! I died! Now what? When you enter the game again, you'll have 1 hit point. Your corpse will be wherever it was that you died. Go there immediately and get all your stuff. Then pick up your corpse and junk it. Other players aren't allowed to take your stuff, and your corpse won't dissolve for 6 real-time hours, but if you just leave it and don't come back for awhile, your stuff is up for grabs once your corpse dissolves. I'm trying to gossip, auction, or congratulate, but it won't let me! You're too low level. You need to be Level 4 before you can do these things. Of course, if you fall out of favor with the gods, they can mute you no matter what level you are. Oh yes, and you can't swear out loud. Dang! That flower girl kicked my butt! Oh her. Don't attack her. She's considered a "shop owner". Shop owners have 30,000 hit points and an armor class of -100. I bet that you don't. Any mob that sells items is deemed a "shop owner"; these are designed to be unkillable and most won't allow you to attack them. The same goes for guild guards and guild masters that are around the mud. So, what is up with the parenthesis in other player's titles? I thought those were not allowed. They are not allowed to be added by players; the ones seen are called flags. Type help flags for more information. What are all these weird abbreviations people use? Some of the more commonly used abbreviations include 'cot' and 'lol'. Cot stands for center of town (a.k.a recall point), and lol means laugh out loud. You can find many other abbreviations under 'help abbreviations'. I have a few problems but I don't want to bother the gods. Who do I speak to? You can speak to elders and monitors. While their official role is to enforce the policy, they are also a good source of information. You can identify these people by corresponding flags in their titles, or by viewing the lists under 'help elder' and 'help monitor' respectfully. Are there any other little commands to make my MUD life easier? A few; look under help shortcuts. Conclusion Well, I think this is enough information for you to get started in the world of Dominia. If you happen to know of a question that is asked a lot that I didn't include in this guide, please tell me (Joshua) when you see me on the MUD or email me at jharring@mediaone.net. I will be happy to update the guide. Please enjoy Dominia!! This guide is © 1998 Joshua Harring . It may only be electronically reproduced on a website with my permission, and must be printed in full, including this disclaimer. Many thanks to the gods Deathblade, Fade, and Pkunk for creating the best MUD known to man, and also to my many good friends on the MUD for making it such a fun place. References * Original Source of this guide: [[Dominia]MUD Website] * Back to Dominia MUD Wikia Home